[Chloef_2799]

My vetrinarian is the complete polar opposite of what most of you have told me about. He actually suggesed I look into RAW or BARF diet for Chloe and Sadie. Because Chloe is very sensitive to her environment and other factors he said a RAW/BARF diet may help her imensly. I only hesitate because it is mighty expensive compared to their current food which they like just fine, I don't know if I want to deal with the "adjustment" period I so often read about and also I don't want to forget to add something important and have them get sick on me. So until I know more about the diet and how to prepare a good nutritionally balaned one...Chloe and Sadie are sticking with their kibble. But I am most certainly not opposed to it at all infact I think it is a great thing to do for dogs as they were raised on that type of food and only startee to eat "kibble" or "dog food" in the recent past because we got too lazy or greedy to share with them out food.

[briteday]

Our vet clinic no longer sees sales reps from the food or drug companies unless there is something vastly new on the market. Only prescription diet food is kept in stock, tucked away in the storeroom. Both vets are very "on board" with alternative feeding such as raw and home cooked, have samples (again in the back room so there is no bias), and can suggest local retailers as sources.
My vets are worth their weight in gold!

[Valkman]

That is cool - I hope I find one like that around here!

[borzoimom]

Dogs on raw diet will "appear" to loose weight- they have in some way ( lost the fat) but also look more pronounced as muscle builds. Like the difference in view from uh ( pardon me) having a " pot belly" or pronounced "abs"...

[BoxMeIn21]

Originally Posted by Valkman

I can feel the experience, knowledge and caring in these posts and have no doubt that they are true. From the vets I get "believe me, I know", "Don't do it", and everything but coherent and checkable facts. They tell me my posts are "harsh" but the guy who said RAW is "stupid" and a breeder's "scam" gets a free pass. Yea, I really want a vet with a totally closed mind about food.

If I went to a doctor and got a script for a drug and then found the doc had a vested interest in that drug, or was paid to use that drug, or got a big discount on that drug, I wouldn't be too comfortable with it. I have a very hard time thinking a vet will give me unbiased nutrition advise when he has racks of Hill's SD in the waiting room.

Well see that's the thing with vets - nutrition is not actually a compulsory part of a DVM in the first place - meaning that some vets have no nutritional training at all. And those (optional) courses that are available are provided by Hills and Waltham - what exactly do you suppose they teach? Yes about how wonderful Hill's and Science Diet is, when in fact it's loaded with crap. Fact is, your vet may know no more about nutrition than you do. No great surprise - he is a doctor, not a nutritionist. Human doctors take nutritional advice from nutritionists. Some vets do likewise (or educate themselves) - others take advice from pet food companies.

[borzoimom]

( looking for applause smiley...) VERY good boxmein2!!!

[RedyreRottweilers]

I have been a raw feeder since the mid 90s. I quit trying to convince people a long time ago, but I usually do ask them one question that can be thought provoking:

Why should dogs live with no fresh food in their diet? How can this be healthy for ANY ANIMAL?

It's not. But it seems this does not occur to a lot of people. Slick ads with big money behind them have convinced most pet owners in the US that 1) they are doing their animals a disservice if they feed them anything except a "complete and balanced commercial diet", and 2, that any raw food or bones will be bad news because of the bacteria content.

I usually use the "they lick their butt every day" argument to counter that one.

[BoxMeIn21]

Originally Posted by RedyreRottweilers

I usually use the "they lick their butt every day" argument to counter that one.

That is a great comeback!!